Sieć rzeczna średniowiecznego Krakowa

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Abstract

THE RIVER NETWORK OF MEDIEVAL KRAKÓW: AN ATTEMPT AT A SYNTHESIS

This article concerns the Vistula and its tributaries Rudawa, Prądnik and Wilga in medieval Kraków from the villages of Zwierzyniec and Zawada to the villages of Dąbie and Płaszów, with the Vistula running along several channels from the beginning. From the 2nd half of the 13th century onwards the river network in this area systematically altered its shape, also due to human activity. The article characterises the exact course of the three tributaries and its changes. It has been proved that the so-called Zakazimierka, i.e. the river channel encircling the town of Kazimierz from the south, became permanent only after the town was founded in the 14th century. Until the 12th century the Rudawa River flowed in a single channel from the village of Mydlniki through Chełm into the Vistula near the Norbertine (Premonstratensian) convent. In the middle of the 13th century the sisters commissioned the construction of a millrace from the Rudawa River. Another millrace fed by the Rudawa, starting in the village of Mydlniki and running all the way to their monastery in Kraków, was built by the Dominicans in the 13th century, but it functioned only briefly due to the construction of the city fortifications. It was rebuilt at the end of the 13th century into the Młynówka Królewska (Royal Millrace), with numerous mills built alongside in the Garbary area. The article also characterises the course of the Prądnik and the mills fed by it. The three tributaries were put to economic use, providing energy to operate the numerous mills mentioned in the article.